This has been a very interesting couple of weeks for Kevin Durant. You’d think that renewing a shoe deal would be a breeze. But no. For Kevin Durant it’s been a whirlwind. Firstly Under Armour offered Durant a deal worth between $265 and $285 Million which had the undertone of Washington gunning for KD in 2016. (Under Armour is based in Baltimore) and now according to ESPN’s Marc Stein and Darren Rovell, Nike has matched Under Armour’s initial offer.
Nike has countered Under Armour’s offer of between $265 million and $285 million and believes it will keep Kevin Durant for the next 10 years, sources told ESPN. Nike, whose seven-year deal that guaranteed Durant $60 million is expiring, made an initial offer of about $20 million a year that was far from what Durant was looking for. Under Armour’s huge play for Durant had many believing that Nike would even let him go at that price.
I have to be honest, I would’ve been interested in what shoes Under Armour would make for Durant. But it seems the Nike-KD relationship is going to carry on for years to come.